|
 Probably
the most complex kanji in any of these lessons, fuji
/ to / do is extremely common in names. And it's the
link between the grass kanji in this lesson and those
characters usually paired with to (pronounced
"toh").
The
four grass kanji listed below each have a horizontal line
at the top that is intersected by two small vertical
marks.
 |
young |
 |
leaf |
 |
falling |
 |
wisteria (flower); read fuji if
first kanji, to or do if second |
 |
east; read higashi if
first kanji; to if second; azuma
if alone |
 |
it, he, she; also represents
"Italy" |
 |
addition; also the symbol for
Canada |
 |
near; also read as kin;
used by the Kintetsu Buffaloes |
 |
1:
praise (buddha);
2:
make equal |
 |
artisan; almost always paired with
to to create Kudo |
Though
it's usually pronounced "fuji" when
it's the first of two characters in a name (Fujii,
Fujimoto, Fujimori),
this kanji is more often used in the second position,
where it usually represents "to" or
"do" (Ito, Kato,
Saito, Kondo, Kudo,
and many other combinations).
Higashi
/ to / azuma is a rather complex character. If it is
the first kanji in names, it is usually read as "higashi,"
but it's pronounced "to" in Tokyo.
When it's the second kanji in a name, it's read as "to,"
but if it's the only character in a name, it becomes azuma.
In most city and train station names, it is read as higashi
(east).
The
two characters representing "sai," are
of the same origin, but have evolved in different
directions. Though they are pronounced identically, the
first relates to worshipping Buddha while the second
means to make equal or the same.
Go
to Lesson 7
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